How can you identify areas for improvement as a chef?

I believe cocking is art and therefore, the passion must be your primary pillar. Respect the food and respect the trade, then the rest will follow. Soft skills must be developed first to showcase the hard skills later. Explore the cultural cuisines and identify the ones that you believe represent your passion and art. Once you know what cuisine you like to explore and learn then you start to fine tune your place in the cooking world; from Chef de Cuisine to Garde Manger, Banquet Chef to Saucier, from Patissier to Boulanger. Once you know what drives you, practice humbleness daily and respect the trade. In my personal journey, I never stopped learning and accepting or respecting other's opinions. Failure is a challenge not an option.

I have highlighted this term before, we continue to use the term chef, (chef is translated as the Boss) we are all cooks till we become the leader. As a a life long cook I have always felt that we need to continue to learn, grow and expand our knowledge, skills and experiences, never accepting good is good enough, we make mistakes, yet this is a learning tool to understand where you went wrong and adjust accordingly. Good enough is not ever good enough, we seek to perfect what we do and then pass this to the next generation of chefs. Keep learning, keep asking, seek guidance of your senior, take from them the best ideas, use these as the foundation, you are only limited by your imagination.

Find a mentor, someone who’s been there and done the things you want to learn. A Mentor is a great way to have someone to fall back on and ask questions. Chose your mentor wisely, someone you look up to and can communicate with easily

As a chef, self-reflection is important for identifying areas of improvement and setting goals. Reflect on your past successes and failures, seek feedback from others, and consider what areas of cooking you are passionate about and what would you like to improve. By setting goals and continuing to grow and develop, you can improve the quality of your cooking over time.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses are key to becoming your best version of yourself. Broadening your mindset Remaining optimistic Staying focused and persistent Trusting yourself internally over unnecessary feedback, criticism or the opinions of others, family and friends or coworkers. Most importantly stay positive; rome wasn't built in a day

Feedback from Others: Seek feedback from colleagues, mentors, and customers. This can provide valuable insights into areas we may need to improve Continuous Learning and Experimentation: Always be open to learning new techniques, experimenting with new ingredients, and exploring different cuisines This can help us broaden your culinary skills and knowledge. Training and Skills Tests: Participate in training sessions and skills tests to assess our culinary knowledge, food preparation techniques, and organizational skills Quality of Tools and Ingredients: Invest in quality cooking utensils and choose the freshest ingredients. The quality of our tools and ingredients can significantly impact the outcome of our dishes

Buscar a opinião de outras pessoas é essencial para entender todos os aspectos do serviço e das necessidades de seus clientes, vai depender muito de você quão objetivamente você encara todas essas opiniões.

Having an open-mind and deeper understanding about the feedback or surveys given to you, will not just help you to improve at your work but also makes you grow and become a better person.

Feedback...it is all about the context and perception. If you are a professional in the trade of culinary arts, then you know that feedback is a constant reminder about the art of cooking. If the context is appropriate, then any feedback should be taken seriously and thoughtfully. Same with the perception or circumstance, feedback will assist you to improve and maintain the professional skills. Chefs and egos are an explosive combination, so Chefs must learn not to take the negative feedback as a personal threat. In my personal journey I learned a very simple rule: If you know what you are doing, you will ask for feedback to enhance and improve your skills as longer is strictly professionally related to the art of cooking.

É muito importante estar sempre informado e atualizado, com suas fichas técnicas, qualificações de seus funcionários, comentários entre seus colegas de trabalho.

Recipes and methods = time and space! Some recipes are self developed and some are family treasurers,or like some Hotels or Corporations, the golden book of recipes is inherited. Understand your surroundings and space. Is the kitchen suitable for batch cooking or expediting? Cold storage space, traffic lines, etc. Every aspect will have an impact on the recipe and methods. Some recipes were created in the late 1800's and we are in 2023! Fat is flavor in the old days was the rule for some customers; that is not the case today. You must adapt, revise and test constantly your recipes and methods to optimize the quality of the product. In addition, know your customer and clientele. They will tell you too if you need to review the recipes.

Ask for feedback from your customers, colleagues, and managers. They can give you honest opinions on your dishes, your techniques, and your performance. You can use their feedback to improve your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Review your recipes and menus regularly. You can check if they are up to date, consistent, and appealing. You can also experiment with new ingredients, flavors, and cuisines to expand your repertoire and creativity. Learn from other chefs. You can watch cooking shows, read cookbooks, attend workshops, or follow online courses. You can also network with other chefs and exchange tips, ideas, and experiences. You can learn from their successes and mistakes and apply them to your own practice.

As young culinarians it is very important to move often, seek out those chefs that you admire, strive to find the best you can, seek to work with them. Has been posted and said many times, a year working with a great chef is worth more than working many years with a mediocre one. Find them, work from them, learn from them all that you can then move on. First master the foundations of cooking then and only then can you truly start to consider others. Travel, change locations, countries if desired, all of these will only give you first hand knowledge, experience and skills to add to your arsenal.

Seeking feedback from customers, peers, and mentors. Self-assessment through reflection on your own performance. Regularly challenging yourself with new techniques and recipes. Keeping up with industry trends and developments. Participating in workshops, classes, or culinary competitions. Analyzing customer reviews and comments for constructive criticism. Conducting taste tests and evaluating your dishes objectively. Collaborating with other chefs to exchange ideas and learn from each other's experiences.

In my personal journey, learning from other sources had a tremendous positive impact on my career. Traveling to other continents and working with different cultures allowed me to expand my horizon and thinking rationale about food handling, preservation ,cooking and presentation. It all helped me to grow and become a better professional. By understanding the culture and roots of a recipe, I was able to identify key ingredients and components. I learned how to apply them in different ways which opened a door for new ides and creations. The history of a recipe or ingredient is key to understand why it is cooked or prepared that way. Once you have that knowledge, you can apply it in your cooking world.

As a chef, you can identify areas of improvement by learning from other sources such as attending workshops and seeking feedback from customers, colleagues, or mentors, self-reflection is also important as it helps you analyze your past successes and failures the quality of your cooking overtime.

For me I grew up in an time that google, internet and many cook books were not readily available and had to learn by doing, practicing and seeking those that cook teach. Yet learning consumed me, and feel this is missing in many young culinarians and our industry, how many go home at night after work or before work actually look to learn outside of work? Spend an hour everyday looking to see what is new, what has changed and how you can bring this into your work, do not get me wrong there is now so much info out there, not all are correct or applicable to your situation, these you learn from true master of the art, but the ideas, the plating techniques are valuable, but mostly you have to have a desire to learn and continue to learn.

In my own way , we need to open up to ideas and new food trends like online platforms e.g YouTube, instagram and other social platforms even books and working under bosses I mean chefs that create new recipes. Also learning plating from others too and cinematography. For clearer food picture 🥰

One way to identify areas for improvement as a chef is to practice your skills and evaluate your results. By cooking frequently and trying new techniques, you can see what works well and what needs improvement. You can also ask for feedback from others who taste your food, such as family and friends, or even customers if you work in a restaurant. Additionally, you can attend cooking classes or workshops to learn new skills and techniques from experienced chefs, and read cookbooks or watch cooking shows to get inspiration and ideas for improvement. Self-reflection on your goals and learning from other sources can also help you identify areas for improvement as a chef.

As young culinarians it is essential to make a plan, identify where you want to be in a year, two, ten onwards and stick to the plan, find great chef's who you can learn from, master what they can teach, then identify what else. To many young cooks do not have this plan!! Also a to become a great chef you need to be able to be able to work effectively in all areas of the kitchen, work in the cold kitchen master this, move to pastry and bakery, master this and so on, all areas are equally important to be at least able to function in this area as there will come a time when your experience will be needed, where your working knowledge will be called upon and if you have not mastered these areas this could be your undoing.

The most valuable tool a Chef can have is their team. BOH and FOH are both vitally important, although their roles are very different. When I was the CDC of a high profile restaurant, I was quickly schooled on this insight when we were being reviewed by the restaurant critic of The NY Times. We had a possible third star on the table, and the critic only showed up on the days I was running the show. I had to trust that everyone was on top of their game that day, because there was no way I could be everywhere at once. Nobody could panic, especially not me. The kitchen had to make every dish perfectly for every customer in the restaurant, not just the critic. The FOH had to do their job and make sure service was seamless for everyone.